dryer sheets
by icedteaandlemoncake
Summary: when tony finally stands up for effie, the consequences are dire for everyone.


Tony let two stop-lights run their course, staring at the moon. Cars honked, swerved, and passed him. Finally Sid appeared by his driver's side window. "Tony?" He knocked on the door, getting no response except Tony just staring at him. Sid opened the door. "Tony, you have to move your car." No response, so Sid pulled him out of the car.

There was blood all over his pants and shirt, arms, and even splattered on his neck and face. "What-what happened?" Still nothing, Tony was just staring out beyond him. Sid grabbed his shoulders and moved him to the sidewalk, pulled his car into the driveway. He got out to find Tony sitting on the grass, so he sat beside him.

"It drives me insane when people don't use dryer sheets," came Tony, as if pronouncing the answer to the meaning of life.

"Oh...k..."

"It makes your clothes feel..." he cringed, rubbing his fingers together, "plus they fade out faster."

"Okay. This would officially be the weirdest episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Let's get you home, Tony, alright?" He managed to pull Tony onto his feet, and he followed him to the car, zombie-like. He didn't say anything while turning the key to his place and putting it on the coffee table. Something was up, Sid noticed. Not just the obvious with the way Tony was acting tonight. Something wasn't quite right in this house, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Tony got Sid a soda and came back to the living room. Sid just put the soda down without a coaster. That usually freaked Tony out because then his mom would yell at him. He didn't say anything. Tony looked at his watch after they both sat there for awhile, silent.

"Did you get in a fight or-"

"Time to get ready for school," came the mechanic interruption, "do you need to shower or anything?"

Sid shook his head.

"Well then, wait here." Tony walked upstairs. As soon as he heard the shower turn on, Sid started walking through the house. It was different- he couldn't expect too much though - Tony's mom was away so that usually meant him and Effie abandoned all effort to keep anything clean. Mud footprints were tracking all through the hallways, clothes randomly scattered about. He made his way to the kitchen, and noticed 'Mom will be home on the fifteenth!" written on the markerboard on the fridge. That was tomorrow. He kept walking, the footprints continued upstairs but he didn't want to go up there in case Effie was getting ready.

Then he stepped on something and looked down. Effie's cellphone was broken in half. He picked it up. "What the fuck?"

Tony came back downstairs. "Oh," he said with a laugh, giving Sid a sense of relief that he was back to being himself again, "did Effie break her phone?" He took the phone from him and put it on the counter. "She's pretty clumsy."

Sid just looked at him weird. "What the hell is going on, Tony? What did you do last night?"

"Cmon, mate, let's go to college, already."

Sid shrugged and Tony drove this time. Sid noticed that one light was still on in the house, Tony's parents' bedroom. "Your dad up early?"

"Who knows."

He didn't press further, until he noticed Effie wasn't at school already like she usually was. "Where's Effie today?"

"Stop asking stupid questions, Sid."

Sid was, to put it lightly, confused and freaked out, but Tony's stern voice shut him up, and he remained silent for the rest of the school day, until he noticed, in Psychology, Tony reaching into his satchel in between them and a glint of something caught Sid's eye, so he reached down to it. Tony pushed his arm away, glaring at him. "Don't be rude, Sid."

He shrugged, figured it was none of his business, and went on with his coursework. In the next class, he noticed Tony wasn't there. It wasn't like him to skip. Tony did plenty of things his parents didn't approve of - but he kept his grades up, and he didn't skip classes. He noticed Michelle was there, though, and he wrote down in his notebook during silent reading time,

'tony is creeping me out. did you see him last night? have you heard anything? do you know where he is? i have to talk to you after class.'

He flicked it across the table, and Michelle picked it up, immediately responding, then flicked it back to him.

'he was acting weird last night at my house, that's for sure, like something was bothering him, but he wouldn't talk about it. he just went home early, said effie needed him for something. probably some homework thing. don't worry about it, i think he's fine.'

The instructor walked by so Sid hid the paper, pretending to be reading the book, then scribbled furiously. 'i saw him this morning, he seemed pretty fucked up, there was blood all over his clothing. i'm going to find him after class. join me if you wish.' The bell rang and Michelle caught up with Sid in the hallway. "Sid!" He turned around to face her.

"What do you mean, blood?"

He told her about finding him in the car that morning.

"I can't...this...this sounds horrible. I can't skip this French test, though."

"It's fine, Michelle. Keep your phone on, though."

"I will, tell me what's going on when you find out."

She touched his arm before walking away from him. Sid got a cab to Tony's house and didn't knock before walking in. Tony sat in the living room, a gun in his hand.

"Shit - Tony -what the fuck?"

He placed it on the table, putting his hands up. Sid sat down beside him. "Tell me what the fuck is going on, Tony."

He got silence. Sid didn't know how to push further.

"He had his hands..." Tony picked up the gun again just to have it, and dropped his head in his arms. "I was just looking out for her, he had his hands...'

He kept repeating that bit, rocking back and forth. Sid plucked the gun from his hand gently. He wasn't a gun-type kid. He played the games and stuff, of course, but when it came to actually owning a gun, or handling one, Sid was never up to snuff. He didn't know if the safety was on or if it was loaded, so he threw it across the living room floor to be safe. Tony didn't look up.

"What happened, Tony? Tell me, or show me. Can you show me?" Tony got up and started walking. Oh, Shit, thought Sid. Something bad happened. "Is it Effie?" He followed Tony upstairs and stopped short of Effie's bedroom, the door closed and locked. He sat down again.

"Tony, tell me what happened to Effie."

"He had his hands..." even saying that was aggravating Tony. He'd started crying and breathing shallow.

"He was hurting her?"

"I was just trying to look out for her, Sid. He..."

Oh, fuck. Sid tried pushing the door open.

"Go in the bathroom and get a bobby pin, Tony."

Tony just continued rocking, pulling at his own hair. Sid punched him on the shoulder, getting him to look up.

"Go get a bobby pin, now." Tony walked across the hall into the bathroom, came back with Effie's box of hair stuff.

"Right. Well. That'll do, I suppose..."

He tried to pick the lock with the bobby pin, but Tony was always good at that and here he was, useless. Fuck it, he thought, and got out his credit card, remembering just how old the locks in this house were. He swiped his credit card through where the lock was, and that did it. Tony looked up, pale and scared. Sid had never seen this face before. "Don't-go-don't-Sid please..." he pleaded, and Sid just moved the box aside and stood up.

"What's in here, Tony? What am I going to find?"

Tony banged his own head against the wall. "DON'T OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Sid felt grateful the gun was downstairs and pushed open the door.

"Holy fuck."

Effie sat curled up in the corner, a bedsheet around her, her stockings ripped up a few feet away from her. She was a fucking wreck, but she looked up at Sid and ran toward him. No words, she just ran out into the hallway. She had blood all over herself, too. Tony's dad lay face down on Effie's bloodsoaked bed.

Broken glass lay all over the room from broken picture frames and mirrors. He turned around. "Effie, can you tell me-"

"He came in. Tony came in. He's never actually...He...he saw..."

"God damn." They heard the front door open, and both Tony and Effie looked up at Sid.

"Mommy's home, darlings! I came home early!" Came the shout from downstairs. All three of them simply froze, until Tony piped up in a squeaky voice. "We're up here, Mum!"

Sid gave Tony an incredulous glare. Tony shrugged. Effie just stood across from Tony, ripped tank top, scratches and cuts all over her, the skirt she was wearing the only intact form of clothing on her. Sid realized how bad this was going to make him look, but none of them could do anything about the footsteps coming upstairs, so they remained where they were.

"Oh, hello darlings - Effie, what-" Sid pointed her to Effie's room, stepped aside, then immediately extended his arm to catch her as she keeled over.

Sid lent Effie his lighter. She gratefully took it and didn't give it back. Just for tonight, he figured he'd let her off. Just this once. She put her hand down on his as the police cuffed Tony and put him in the car. Her mom walked over, shaking, barely able to light her own cigarette.

Effie got up and lit it for her, then sat back down by Sid. "I-I'm going. I'll be back in the...I'm just..." As the ambulance pulled away with her husband's body inside of it, Anthea seemed to lose any ability to speak. A car on the side of the road honked at her. Effie nodded. and she got into the car, which drove away.

"Stay with me, Sid?" she whispered. It was Thursday night - his mom assumed that he slept over at Tony's every Thursday anyhow.

"Of course." They sat out there a while and, though he was curious, Sid didn't make her talk until sundown, when he took his sweatshirt off and wrapped it around her. She nodded thanks.

"I never feel this cold though," she said while blowing out smoke. She was the only person Sid knew who could blow out rings. "Not when I'm smoking." He'd lit up a cigarette of his own, putting the lighter down between them.

"You going to tell me what happened last night?" No response. "I mean, of course, not the bit with your dad and all...just...what happened?"

"Tony heard us," she sounded mechanical, "and walked in. Dad used to just fuck him up to get him away from me, you know, as a kid?" Sid always suspected stuff like that, but Tony would only shrug it off to talk about girls or booze, and Sid wasn't usually the assertive type. "This time, he knew where the gun was, in my dad's closet, right? It hadn't happened in," Effie paused for a minute, but Sid just looked down, flicking the ash from the cigarette onto the sidewalk, "so long. So...strange. Anyway," she shook her head, refocusing, "he came in, and...it didn't take long, you know? He just shot him. At first I thought he had shot me. But," she got up, twirled around, "nope, him." She put her cigarette out, he handed her another, and she sat back down by him.

"Why did you get locked in?"

"I think he just thought I was in the bathroom or something. I guess things sort of get lost."

"So you just...sat there, the whole time?" Effie rolled the cigarette between her fingers.

"Yeah, I guess I did." She got up again, using his shoulder to prop herself up, and walked in, leaving the door open. He followed her and closed it. They went to Tony's room, and, since it was still hot, opened the window and threw the comforter off the bed. He turned around while she took her clothes off, but she just thwarted him while she walked around him to the bathroom, making it nearly impossible for him not to notice her ass. He lay on the bed, kicking his shoes off and texted Michelle.

From: Sid. "A lot happened. Tony's in jail. His dad's dead. I don't want to have a conversation about it. Sorry. I'll call you later.''

He took off his shorts and lay back on the pillow. He was almost sleeping by the time Effie lay down beside him in a t-shirt and underwear. "Thanks for staying, Sid." He noddded. "Does this feel weird? Like sleeping with your sister?" Sid got a smirk on his face,

"I never...um...I wouldn't know. Allie died when we were eight." Effie put her head in his shoulder and slid one leg in between his. He tried not to be aware that it was smooth, bare, and dangerously close to his crotch.  
"You know what I mean, you've known me since I was five." Sid moved closer to her, turned toward her, let her knee rest on the small of his back.

"You're definitely not five anymore, Eff."

"Oh yeah?" She had been this provocative for a while now, but he'd pretended not to notice because he knew Tony would beat him up. Now, however, he wouldn't know. He couldn't be the wiser in a jail cell. So when Effie's t-shirt hit the floor and her lips met his, Sid couldn't find it in himself to feel the least bit guilty.

Waking up beside her, he couldn't find his underwear. He looked on both sides of the bed, trying not to wake Effie up. He shrugged, figured they would turn up, covered Effie in the comforter she had thrown on the floor, and wrapped the bedsheet around his waist. He made his way to Tony's armoire. They were close enough to the same size, so he grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He then went to the underwear drawer, shuffling through the unorganized ocean of boxers, briefs, socks and condoms for something that looked good.

As soon as he pulled a pair out, he noticed the blue pair of briefs bunched in there, something odd about them. He picked them up and noticed what it was- he unwrapped it and found the bloody knife inside of them. He dropped the clothes and the sheet, letting himself be naked around someone else. He was always awkward and shy being naked, even in a boy's locker room.

The only way he didn't mind it was in a sexual situation, because then nothing had to be focused. But no one was here, and Effie was sleeping. so he didn't immediately grab the sheet back up. He looked back at her though, only to notice her smiling at him. "What? Why are you smiling?" He put down the knife, sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Maybe he hid the evidence."

"He shot him. You said-" his phone interrupted him. It was Michelle. "Hello?"

"Sid- what's happened?" Michelle's teary voice on the other end triggered his tears. "Where's Tony?"

"I...Chelle..."

"Will you at least meet me?" It was dark out - and he didn't want to leave Effie alone.

"I'm with Effie."

"Fine. I'm coming to see you, then."

"You don't want to come here. I'll come see you. Meet me...um...at the playground by my house."

Effie sat up in bed. "Where are you going?"

"I need to tell Michelle what's going on," he answered, pulling Tony's clothes on, "not that I have the slightest fucking clue." He got a running start, and Michelle met him at the swing set. He just grabbed her, felt her shivering, held onto her and smelled her hair. She pulled away and sat on the swing. He followed suit.

"What happened?" Sid still didn't want to elaborate. He didn't know how to. so he just shook his head and started swinging softly. He kicked off his shoes and leaned back, his beanie falling off, the light breeze tousling his hair. "Okay, let's try this. Where's Tony right now?" She wasn't swinging, but sitting in the twisted rubber seat facing him. He slowed, but continued to lean his body back while gripping the cold chains.

"Jail."

"For doing what?"

"Killing his dad."

'When?"

"Sometime last night."

"And Effie..."

is now sixteen, he wanted to say. "Is at their house. Was in the room. Her dad was touching her."

"Yeah.' He hoped that was the end of the interrogation. Today had already begun to jumble together. Walking to breakfast this morning, finding Tony in his car, all covered in blood, the gun, Effie, the sex, the knife. Everything was already starting to blur, and being questioned by the police immediately had stressed him out enough. He had no idea what he wanted to do now. He didn't even want to be sitting here, or in bed with Effie, or with Tony.

He just wanted nothing, all black, and he knew where he could get it. "Let's go to my place." His mom was working, a glad fact. He didn't want to explain why he was there or why he was wearing Tony's clothes. Michelle shut the door behind him and followed him, puzzled, as he stripped off the clothes, throwing them on the floor behind him, until he reached the pool in the backyard, into which he jumped.

Michelle just sat on the edge, dipping her feet in and watching the rubber duckie float around in the lighted pool. He propped himself up on a float and dipped his head underwater. Dark. Black. This worked for a while, until he kept seeing Tony again, the blood, the dead stare in his eyes, like all you had to do was push him over and he'd be dead.

"Tony's not made for jail," he muttered, pulling himself onto the pink floating recliner. Both of them could feel the awkwardness of him being naked there, but he pushed on anyhow. "He's such a fucking whimp. Words won't do shit for him in there." Michelle sighed, put her head in her hands.

"This doesn't make any sense. This isn't Tony." Sid dipped back down in the water, swam up to her and grabbed onto the ledge with his arms, resting his chin on his hands. No longer awkward.

"Effie is," he muttered.

"What?"

"Effie is that fucked up." He told her about the sex and the knife. Michelle almost said that Tony was going to kill Sid when he found out, but bit her tongue.

"You think..."

"He hid the knife? Doesn't compute. He was being too honest, too childlike, when I found him. He just acted like I was his dad and I was going to find a dirty room or something. He just wasn't being that malicious. And he's always been a dick, but he's never been that bad, you know?" Michelle nodded her agreement. "I could see him shooting him. Kind of. But not stabbing him." Effie, Sid kept thinking. Effie, Effie, Effie, Effie. "Wait..." he got out of the pool, reached for his underwear, and quickly got dressed as she blushed, acting as if she'd never seen him naked before. "I need to go back. I have to see what the fuck is going on." Michelle followed him out, and walked in step with him. "You...don't want to see Tony's house right now, Michelle." She stopped walking.

"Yeah, I just have a bad feeling about this."

"I'll call you in an hour, then?" She looked uneasy, but nodded. He left her there, went back to Effie. This time she was n the couch, in lingerie. Jesus, Sid thought. She sure wasn't a baby anymore.

"Drop the pants."

"Uh...what?"

"They are Tony's. Drop them." He obeyed. "Shirt, too." She sat back on the couch, sipped from a bottle of vodka beside her. He obeyed her again. She looked at him suggestively.

"Oh come on. Not the briefs. I can't find mine," he whined.

"They're his. Drop them." She stood up, walked over to him. "I said drop them." She took his glasses, threw them across the room.

"Hey! Those are mine!" She crossed her arms. "I'm a little apprehensive about being naked around you at the moment, Effie, if I am to be honest." She laughed and gave him a long kiss, and pulled down the briefs. "Oh come on now. This isn't fair." She was giving his body a long and scrutinizing look. He scoffed and started to walk past her, kicking the briefs aside. "There." She grabbed onto his arm, twisted it, bending him over and rendering him useless.

She pushed him onto the couch, reached into one of the drawers in the coffee table. "Is this some sort of role playing, Eff, because if it is, I'd rather not play tonight." she lit her cigarette, straddled him, and blew the smoke into his face, silent. "Well, can we...at least even the score a bit?" He reached up for her bra strap. She grabbed his wrist, burned him with the cigarette. "OW! Fuck, Effie!" He yelled and tried to push her off of him until she flicked the cigarette away. "Now, I don't know what kind of guys you've been fucking," he said, blowing on his wrist as she smirked at him, both hands on her back, leaving him to assume she was taking her bra off, "but i don't get turned on by pain."

He didn't have time to object any further, because she brandished her knife while kissing him, and stuck the knife first into his side, then, as he looked up at her, into his stomach, then his chest. She looked at him for a while, slumped over on the couch. She pushed him back, blood trickling from his mouth.

"Oh, Sid," she said, tousling his hair and sliding the knife across his neck without breaking the skin. "You were always so cute when you were in pain." She stabbed into his neck, watching the blood spurt, and then drew the knife across his neck. She stood up, knife in hand, and looked upon the bloody mess, satisfied. Her high heels clacking were the only sound in the house as she went up to her room. She had cleaned it in his absence, removing all evidence of bloodshed.

On the bed lay Sid's bat-man briefs. She wrapped the knife up and placed it in her bedside drawer. "Time for a shower," she said to no-one, or, she figured, to her dad and Sid's ghosts. "I feel dirty."

Michelle became worried when Sid didn't call, so she drove over and walked into the house, cell phone and Sid's beanie in hand, ready to call the cops or ambulance. "Sid? Sidney? Effie?" the TV was on- the debate channel Tony was always watching. She stepped in the room and screamed, dropped her phone. There sat Effie, nice and tidy, in a schoolgirl outfit, and Sid's mangled bloody form beside her.  
"Why hello, Michelle," Chirped Effie. "Tony's not here. But I'll tell him you came round."  
"Cheers," Michelle managed to get out in a whisper.


End file.
